A number of epidemiological studies have shown that sleep apnea is a common disorder. Over 25 percent of apparently healthy adults over age 55 demonstrate sleep disordered breathing when screened at home. Moreover, within the pediatric, infant, and newborn population, the incidence of Apparent Life Threatening Event (ALTE), Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), and sleep disordered breathing has also been well defined.
Sleep apnea's major symptom is excessive daytime sleepiness, and one physiological marker that predicts its existence is the presence of nighttime snoring. Excessive daytime sleepiness as a result of chronic sleep disordered breathing might be responsible for up to 50% of work related disability payments and 13% of all motor vehicle accidents. These and other statistics could support the fact that uncontrolled sleep apnea approaches a public health issue and the under-diagnosis of sleep apnea in the general population continues to exist.
In the overwhelming majority of those patients suffering from sleep-disordered breathing, the site of the apnea occurs within the upper airway. The recording of physiological measurements at night that documents airflow limitation is the currently accepted method to confirm the existence of sleep disordered breathing. This method is known as a polysomnography and is generally both time-consuming and costly.
While a polysomnography is suitable for the particular purpose to which it addresses, it is not suitable for the rapid identification of sleep disordered breathing while the patient is awake. Also, a polysomnography requires significant resources to perform. Generally, it is conducted in special facilities. A patient is located in one room for the night and typically arrives about 8:00 pm and leaves about 6:00 am. At least two trained technicians are present for the duration of the test. The technicians attach various sensors to the head, chest, arms and legs and then monitor various signals from the patient. The results, as multichannel charts and observed events, are then reviewed by one or more physicians of different specialties in order to determine the existence of sleep apnea or other respiratory dysfunction conditions. Furthermore, a polysomnography is labor intensive, requiring copious training and preparation. Also, it is uncomfortable and unpleasant for the patient, and often times, delivers inaccurate results due to the discomfort.
Given the obstacles of current sleep disorder diagnosis, the evolution of cardio-respiratory tools and techniques will need to be time sensitive, cost effective, and patient friendly while providing an accurate diagnosis, which in turn will allow better treatment to more patients. Overcoming these obstacles, the present invention is an apparatus and method for rapidly identifying respiratory, cardiac, cardio-respiratory, and neurophysiological diseases while the patient is awake.